


Kakashi vs Metal

by MegaWallflower



Category: Naruto
Genre: Babies, Babysitting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Masks, Tsunderes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 11:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21475171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: Lee entrusts Kakashi and Guy with the important task of babysitting his 4-month-old. Metal is very interested in Kakashi’s mask.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Metal Lee, Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Maito Gai | Might Guy & Metal Lee, Rock Lee & Kakashi Hatake, Rock Lee & Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 222





	Kakashi vs Metal

"Sure, Lee! Of course, we can babysit little Metal! We always have time for you two!" Guy declared, pulling away from the wrestling-match-turned-cuddling-match that he had been engaged in with Kakashi.

“—Eh? ‘_We’_?” Kakashi sighed and pushed aside his disappointment that their match ended so soon, especially since Kakashi had definitely been winning. He shifted to lift Guy up and into his wheelchair in a single fluid movement. Guy could easily climb into it on his own, but he was grateful for it this time, since Guy was impatiently enthusiastic to rush over to Lee and little Lee as soon as possible. A whirlwind whipped up as Guy raced past, and Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair to brush it back into place. “We…?” he quietly protested again, if only to himself, because Guy certainly wasn’t listening.

“Leave it to _us_, Lee!” Guy pressed on, and Kakashi just sighed again. There was no changing Guy’s mind when he got like this. “Metal is safe in our capable hands!”

“Really? Is it alright?” A true mother hen already, Lee nervously glanced from his baby to his teacher to Kakashi and back to his baby. Kakashi and Guy had personally helped Lee through countless sleepless nights with the little Lee already, and Lee had eventually fallen into the role of proud, doting parent the way he fell into anything –not as a prodigy at first, but as a novice willing to put his heart and soul into mastering the skill. And as always, that was more than enough. “You and Kakashi-sensei are always helping me so much, but Metal has never really been apart from me before…!”

“Of course! We can always make time for either of you! Metal’s one of our comrades, too!” Guy gave Lee his most reassuring Nice Guy pose.

“You haven’t been apart from Metal in a while either, have you?” Kakashi cut in. “Are you going to manage without him?” Kakashi chose not to elaborate, but a lot of new parents messed up on missions, either because they were so worried about leaving their babies behind or because they just hadn’t been getting any sleep; either way, easy targets. It was one of the many things that added to Konoha’s orphan population.

Lee aimed a Nice Guy pose in Kakashi’s direction, and Kakashi had to admit, it was a little heartwarming how well he had that down. If Kakashi didn’t know any better, he’d say that Lee was just as much Guy’s as Metal was Lee’s. “Of course! I am a shinobi, too! And a father! This is something else I will have to become stronger in! It is just another part of my training!” He had perfected Guy’s skill in making impossible, baseless things sound completely believable.

Kakashi smiled sympathetically. “Just focus on making it back in one piece, then.”

Lee gave his tearful gratitude, plopping his tiny clone down on a baby mat along with a duffle bag. With some resistance from Metal Lee himself, Lee said his goodbyes, giving a strict speech to the little guy about how esteemed Guy and Kakashi were, and how he was to follow all of their instructions and put his trust in them.

Lee was still clearly at the stage where leaving Metal’s side for even a second felt like leaving a piece of himself behind. He sobbed and admitted on his way out, “It really is just as Kakashi-sensei warned… I do not feel whole when Metal is not wrapped up in my arms! I will finish this mission as quickly as I can, or I will do 500 laps around the whole village on my hands, balancing my dear Metal on my feet!”

Kakashi inwardly groaned, but he had to decency to wait until Lee had already left before he reiterated, “What did you mean ‘we’? I’m not a babysitter. I _barely_ managed with teenagers.”

Guy brushed off Kakashi’s complaint with a wave of his hand. “It shouldn't be hard to look after a four-month-old! It’s not like he can crawl anywhere yet! Besides, you have me here with you! And he definitely can’t outrun two elite jonin of our caliber!”

Kakashi glanced at Metal, playing on his little playmat uncoordinatedly. He lay on his back, grunting and trying determinedly to grab the little trinkets that hung over his face on a mobile. In a very un-Lee-like decision, he gave up on that, rolled himself onto his stomach and started babbling to himself. Or maybe he was babbling to Kakashi and Guy; it was hard to tell. Whoever he was talking too, he sounded sort of angry at them.

Kakashi had to raise his voice to speak over the babbling-turned-grumbling. "Do you actually know how to look after babies?"

“Yeah, kind of, I think!” Guy’s confidence and his words were seriously at odds. Kakashi narrowed his eyes questioningly, but Guy shouldered on, “How hard can it be? It’s my dear Lee’s flesh and blood! And I know how to be there for Lee, better than anyone else in this world! I know I can be there for Metal just as well! It’s in my bones!”

Kakashi rubbed his eyes and let out a quiet groan. “Your confidence is still amazing…”

“Thank you, Rival! Your everything is amazing to me!”

Despite his best efforts, Kakashi couldn’t hold back his smile at that. “Maa… We already let Lee escape. Too late to turn him down now. At least there's two of us on the case.”

"Exactly, that’s the spirit! Since when has there ever been a mission the two of us couldn’t handle together? The two of us are the strongest pair imaginable!"

Kakashi didn’t know how Guy could mentally compare a tiny little baby to a two-man mission to take down an underground syndicate of cold-blooded rogue killers.

The baby was obviously the much harder job.

He stared as Guy rolled over to the baby carefully and tried to console him. “…By the way,” Kakashi cleared his throat. “You stopped that match, so that’s a forfeit. The point goes to me.”

Like clockwork, just like Kakashi expected from his rival: “—What? Excuse me?” Guy’s head whipped around to face Kakashi so fast, Kakashi thought he might get whiplash. The ripples in his hair were still falling back into place when he continued, just as wild and animated, smile replaced with a comical scowl, “It absolutely does not! I didn’t forfeit! I never forfeit! The match isn’t over, it’s just paused! I’ll finish you off later, you hear me, Kakashi! It’s far from over!”

Since Guy raised his voice, Metal apparently took that as a challenge to raise his as well, because his grumbling got even louder.

“Fine, fine, whatever you say, Guy…” Kakashi’s annoyance melted away into nothing, and he looked away to hide the fond, lovestruck smile in his eyes before Guy could comment on that. “You’re such a headache.”

Kakashi probably could have stolen that point if he really tried, but Metal loudly whined for attention just then, so Kakashi breathed a little sigh, and rose both hands up to concede before another playful argument could begin.

Guy grinned and chuckled to himself, very pleased with that. Kakashi squatted down and arched an eyebrow at the complaining baby Lee. “Maa… What about you? Gonna be a headache for me, too?”

Metal’s overbearing wails abruptly hushed down into timid, quiet breaths, and the baby’s tiny fingers curled into equally tiny fists now that he was getting some attention. He was had only wanted the attention itself or he was getting stage fright now, but either trait was strange in Rock Lee’s son. Metal rolled and flailed and tried to reach out for Kakashi, and, once he decided that was impossible, he flopped back onto the floor and grumbled, “M… Mmmb…”

“Mm?” Kakashi asked.

“Maaaah,” he imitated Kakashi’s signature sigh, trying to act innocent and cute now.

“Maaa!” Guy mocked, and Kakashi rolled his eyes. Guy couldn’t sound tired and disinterested, even when he tried. “He likes you!”

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck, somewhere between exasperated and endeared by that. “Maa… You little…” Metal yelped as Kakashi picked him up and gently swung him around. “You're going to be a troublemaker, aren’t you?”

Kakashi cradled Metal in his arms and leaned over him, one finger gently stroking his little cheek while Kakashi quietly hummed a lullaby to try to get him to sleep.

Sometimes, Kakashi had a strange, tender gentleness to him that only a few had ever seen. It was on full display now. Looking up at them from his wheelchair, Guy couldn’t quite see the baby’s face from this angle, but he could see the softening gaze in Kakashi’s dark eyes, the slight shift in his posture and the rocking of his arms. He looked perfect, like he always did. Guy could only gawk in admiration at his rival.

Guy felt a traitorous gratification when little Metal didn’t immediately fall to that angelic charm like Guy would. In fact, Metal started fussing even louder, one arm flailing out of the hold and managing to thwap Kakashi’s cheek with all the strength that such a little thing could muster.

Guy clapped a hand over his mouth, trying and failing to suppress the loud, spluttering laughter that evoked. “Y—You’re doing great, Rival!” Guy could barely offer the encouragement without letting the giggles fall out, even when he could feel Kakashi’s sharp glare. “You’re a genius as always, Lord Sixth!”

Then, Metal reached his precious, tiny hands into Kakashi’s mask and yanked.

Metal was a very small baby, born premature, but apparently, he had the strength of a full grown jonin, because it took Kakashi several minutes to untangle his mask from Metal’s pudgy little fingers.

“Kakashi!” Guy cajoled, in between the laughter he couldn’t hold back anymore. “Are you _fighting_ with Metal?”

Kakashi finally wrestled his mask out of the baby’s weak grip and leaned as far as he could out of flailing range. He held the baby firmly with both hands at arm’s length. Metal’s chubby hands reached out in a futile attempt to reclaim his hold on Kakashi’s mask, balling and opening his tiny fists, whining indignantly, “Ma! Maa!”

“He’s fighting _me_.”

“Well, as always,” Guy held out his hands expectantly, “I’m here to give you backup, my Rival! No matter the mission or the enemy, I’ve got your back!”

Kakashi gratefully let his rival take their de-facto grandson off his hands. Shushing the child, Guy held him close and smiled down at him. Metal stopped crying long enough to peer blearily up at Guy’s face, subsiding to whimpers as Guy rocked him in his lap and made the silliest faces in his repertoire.

Fixing his mask back into place, Kakashi heard soft cooing, and then giggling, and then Metal burst into uproarious laughter. It felt good to finally wrestle back control of Kakashi’s precious mask, but it felt better to see how Metal and Guy lighting up at the sight of each other, bright and awestruck like they were equally amazed at the other’s existence.

The fuzziness of the budding headache in Kakashi’s head gradually dampened, replaced by a warm fuzziness building up in his heart.

Metal rested his head on Guy’s chest, his hands curling into twitchy fists as he babbled. His petite body stayed contained in Guy’s lap, and one of Guy’s arms wrapped around him to keep the kid from knocking himself off. Metal cooed up at Guy, patting at his arm for attention, and Guy obediently cooed back.

“…That’s definitely Lee’s kid. He loves you already.” Kakashi’s voice was quiet, serene, a stark contrast with Guy’s response—cocky, loud laughter and a triumphant, toothy smirk.

“Ha! You sound jealous!”

Kakashi rolled his eyes again and put his hands on his hips, making a show of how exasperated he was by the mere suggestion. “Not really.” Guy could probably tell he was faking it, but Metal definitely couldn’t. And Kakashi wasn’t about to let a baby see him falter.

Metal didn’t seem to be paying attention to either of them anymore, anyway. His waving fist eventually found its way into his mouth, and now he was noisily slobbering and toothlessly gnawing on it. Babbling turned back into whining as he became increasingly more frustrated with the futility of biting his own hand.

“Hm.” Kakashi hummed and rummaged around in the baby bag Lee left for them. He appreciated the chance to change the subject. “I think he’s hungry?” He shook the bottle and warmed it in his hands with a weak fire jutsu, then tossed it towards Guy. “Here, catch.” Guy held his hand up and caught it, and Metal reached up and whined to try to imitate him. “Mah! Maaa!”

“Aw, Metal, were you trying to catch it first? I’m sorry for stealing your thunder like that. Next time, I’ll leave it to you, okay?”

“Maa…” A mumble and a pout, and then Metal was back to angrily chewing on his own fist.

Guy nabbed a cushion to support his arm and settled little Metal comfortably across his lap. The baby snuffled and wriggled, grinning around the nipple of his bottle after Guy finally started feeding him.

“Hungry little shinobi, aren’t you!” Guy rallied. “Lee will be so proud! You’re going to grow up so big and strong! One day, you’ll be the one holding me up! He’s going to surpass us any day now, right, Kakashi?”

Now that Metal’s mouth was busy and his hands were far away from Kakashi’s mask, the room was much quieter. Kakashi and Guy shared a smile, and fond silence settled tenderly between them, broken only by the little snuffles and gulps of a hungry little Metal. Kakashi moved to perch in front of Guy. “You’re a prodigy.”

“Am I?” Guy responded doubtfully, using his free hand to stroke the wisps of hair on Metal’s scalp. “That’s a first.”

Kakashi cupped Guy’s jaw in his hand, lightly caressing his fingertips over the stubble on his cheek. “When I see you two like that, he really does look like he’s your own flesh and blood. You’ve never really looked like Duy until now,” Kakashi offered lightly, surprising himself with how sincere it was. “It’s nice.”

Guy blinked. “…I’m as cool a shinobi as my father was now?” A shy grin tugged at his lips.

An equally playful but much less timid grin spread across Kakashi’s face. “Hmm… No. Not as skilled as him. Duy was still the coolest. But you’re a definitely more charming,” he whispered, leaning in closer as he tapped the back of Guy’s neck with an outstretched hand. Any other time, he would probably lazily slide into Guy’s lap right now, wrap his arms around Guy’s neck, anchor himself around Guy’s hips, instead of uncomfortably leaning over the baby currently occupying his usual spot.

A baby who, in a bout of irritation and mild discomfort, pulled free from his mostly-emptied bottle and aimed yet another soft glare at Kakashi. His free hand tried to push Kakashi away, little face scrunched up and pink with effort. “Wah! Maaa!”

“Yeah, I hear you, you win,” Kakashi relented, obediently pulling away from Guy. In a meager attempt to make peace, Kakashi stroked a gentle hand over Metal’s hair and lightly traced a thumb over his cheek. The baby grumbled out another complaint and burrowed his face back into Guy, clutching his jumpsuit tightly. “Maaaaa.”

Thoroughly rejected, Kakashi withdrew his hand, making a fist at his side instead. “Looks like I’m not half as popular as you are…”

Guy lifted Metal up and settled him over his shoulder. “Well, I think he likes you! He’s already taken to your famous catchphrase! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, you know!”

Kakashi shrugged, squeezing Guy’s other shoulder and straightening back up. “Somehow, I’m not feeling particularly flattered…”

“Hm? That so?” A devilish smirk curled the edge of his lips, and Guy arched an eyebrow curiously as he teased, “Oh! I see! Are you sulking? You’re sulking, aren’t you! Because of a baby! Our Sixth Hokage has a weakness like that…?” He patted Metal’s back until they heard a burp. Metal babbled happily, free of gas and full of milk. “Metal, you’re amazing! You’ve defeated the ruthless, legendary Sixth Hokage! What power! What strength! You might be a genius, yourself!”

Clicking his tongue, Kakashi levelled Guy with a stern look.

It shut Guy up for a second, but it did absolutely nothing to deter Metal’s cheerful, triumphant “Maa!”

“That’s right, Metal! Maa! Victory lap!” Guy lifted Metal up above his head and gentle moved him around in a small, circular path. 

Metal drooled and blabbed, bemused but running off of Guy’s enthusiasm. “Maa!”

“Don’t encourage him, Guy. Whose side are you on?”

“Metal’s,” Guy answered without hesitation.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes again. He had to actively suppress the reflex to groan out an annoyed “Maa.” “You do remember I’m your hokage, right?”

“Pulling rank?! On your rival?!” Guy looked scandalized. “Come on, Kakashi, that’s such a waste. You already have me. You always have. You’re a good, smart hokage, so you should use those skills of persuasion on Metal instead of on me!”

“…Hm. I guess that’s an option,” Kakashi conceded before rummaging around in Lee’s bag again. “…This might work. Here. A peace offering.”

Metal leaned over Guy’s arm and peeked at Kakashi, then leaned away when Kakashi approached him again, toy in hand. It was a stuffed toy shaped like a large shuriken, something Tenten had personally made and insisted would be much, much cuter than any stuffed animal could be. Lee had talked about how much Metal loved that one in particular.

Kakashi offered the toy to Metal, who, with Guy’s help, slowly took it, dropping his emptied bottle to inspect the new toy. His eyes lit up with joy and he slobbered on the soft fake blade.

Kakashi retrieved the forgotten bottle from the floor, now that Metal was finished with it.

“There,” Guy grinned. “That’s enough to forgive each other, isn’t it?”

Metal chewed on the toy a little longer and stared at Kakashi, deep in thought. Then, “Maa!” In an attempt at a surprise attack, Metal dropped the toy and made a grab for Kakashi’s mask yet again. He whined and flailed when he realized he overestimated the length of his own arms and the mask was still far out of reach for his little hands. “Ma… Maaa!”

“That’s a no,” Kakashi arched an eyebrow, and then, he was back in a glaring contest with an infant. “Well, I tried.”

“What, that’s it? Don’t give up that easily, Kakashi!” Guy turned Metal back towards him, and the baby’s glare vanished immediately. “–Come on, you love Kakashi, too, don’t you, Metal?”

“Maa…”

Guy pressed a noisy kiss to Metal’s chubby cheek, making Metal laugh uproarious baby belly laughs. He flailed his hands again, harmlessly slapping at Guy. “You love Kakashi, don’t you Metal?” He asked again, buzzing more kisses onto his check. “You love Kakashi a lot!”

Metal wiggled energetically when he was finally brought back down to Guy’s lap. As soon as he saw Kakashi again, he started waving his little arms and kicking his little legs. “Maa!” This time, it was a demand.

“I think he wants you to pick him up again!” Guy translated.

“Ugh… I think you may be right…” Kakashi tilted his head at Metal, who just sat on Guy’s lap, arms outreached toward Kakashi with grabby hands, chanting “Maa! Maa! Maaa!” over and over again.

“See! I knew he’d like you! He’s my dear Lee’s son, so he has to love you! Like I said, he even stole your catchphrase! It’s practically his nickname for you!” Guy cheered, gently bouncing Metal up and down.

“I’m sure he’s just mocking me. And not even my own students were that touchy about the mask.” Kakashi picked Metal back up, held tightly at arm’s length like he was some potentially hazardous material to be kept a safe distance from Kakashi’s face. That was apparently nowhere near enough to assuage him. If anything, it made Metal fuss even more, “Maa! Maa!”

“Maa!” Guy called out in mock disappointment. “Come on, Kakashi, I’ve never known you to be a quitter!”

“No, but you’ve always known me to be reserved and bad with people.” After an even more theatric sigh, Kakashi finally eased Metal to his chest. Metal reached up expectantly and tilted his head, a silent request to be brought even closer.

“Absolutely not. I’m not falling for that again.”

A glossy bottom lip shifted upward in a sheepish pout. “Maaaa…” Metal patted his own cheeks in pointed disappointment and let out another pitiful whimper, “Maaaaa.”

Kakashi’s expression softened, and with another exasperated sigh, he finally gave in and lifted him up. As soon as he was close enough, Metal reached out to touch Kakashi’s cheeks, cooing as he cupped his jaw as well as he could and gave him the same, lopsided, goofy grin he’d given Guy a minute ago. It might as well as been a smirk with that toothless mouth of his. A sheen of saliva formed at his lips, forming a shiny bubble that grew to quite a size before finally popping.

Kakashi was fully prepared to pull away again if he made another grab for the edges of his mask, but unexpectedly, Metal simply leaned forward to press a sloppy, loud kiss on Kakashi’s cheek. “Mwa! Maa!”

Kakashi blinked and looked back at Guy. “Guy, that was—” he wasn’t sure if he’d wanted to brag or just express his exhilaration because _maybe Metal didn’t despise him_ _yet_! But his voice caught in his throat when he saw how many tears of joy were streaming down Guy’s face at that. “Guy…”

He noticed Kakashi staring, blinked, and then the two of them shared identical, wonderous grins.

“That’s my boy! Well done, Metal!” Guy applauded, and Metal erupted in a fit of happy gurgling. “And that’s my rival! No one’s truly immune to your charms!”

Even in his tired state, Kakashi couldn't help the snorting laughter that escaped him. That made Metal even happier, letting out a keening wail that sounded like he was very pleased with himself. “Maaaa!”

Kakashi hesitantly returned the gesture with a masked peck on Metal’s cheek. Metal shoved Kakashi’s face away again, babbling away at him and roaring with laughter. It was impossible to tell if this guy was happy with Kakashi or upset with him, but at least he was having his fun.

“See?” Guy puffed out his chest, like he’d just won some secret contest. “I knew he liked you, Kakashi! You just bring out the _tsun_ in him, and I bring out the _dere_!”

Kakashi had to pull himself away when Metal made yet another grab at his mask, the clever little sneak. One day, this kid would have a real talent for surprise attacks, if nothing else. “How did Lee, of all people, end up making a _tsundere_…?” Kakashi muttered to the giggly baby.

“My students can do anything they put their minds do!” The cockiness vanished from Guy’s smirk, leaving nothing but a genuine, loving smile. That look was so weighty, Kakashi automatically reached up to his own cheeks to make sure Metal hadn’t somehow succeeded in taking off Kakashi’s mask without him noticing, even though Guy wasn’t the type to gawk at his bare face. “I really did know he’d love you. I mean, you’re you. You’re impossible not to love. You’ve always been. I know that better than anyone.”

Suddenly, Kakashi wished he could manhandle Guy out of that chair and back onto the floor to continue their makeshift “wrestling” match from earlier.

Instead, he settled Metal back into Guy’s arms so they could fuss over each other again. As soon as Kakashi handed him over, Guy was already kissing Metal’s face making him giggle again.

Kakashi smiled fondly at the two of them again and put his hand over his own cheek, where Metal had kissed him. “The ones who are impossible to hate are you and the people who love you,” Kakashi said quietly to himself. Metal and Guy were too preoccupied with each other to react, whether they’d heard him or not.


End file.
